Once upon a time, a couple ended up with a houseguest. The houseguest was a long ago acquaintance who has moved to another part of the country, but due to unforeseen circumstances, needed to bunk up for a few nights with them.

While the guest was there, they told a story about the airport. As the guest came up on short notice, they said that they didn’t really think about packing: that they just threw some things in a bag. OK- not A bag singular, but actually a carry-on, large backpack and a garment bag- and this is where the story, as it were, begins…

3 day trip.

3 bags.

Whatever.

When the guest was preparing to return home, they made a big deal telling the hosts about how they were able to convince the Airline Personnel to allow them to take on three carry-on items. (the rule on this particular airline is one carry on bag and one small personal item- anything more must be checked.)

The Guest talked about their charming and suave word manipulations that led them to be treated so favorably. A wink and a smile I guess…

To be fair, the hosts had not even noticed the amount of carry on luggage and never in a million years would have cared whether or not the guest needed to pay extra. They did not ask the question, the information was volunteered…

So the guest departs, and the host goes into the room where they stayed to change the linens. While the host is cleaning, the host notices a piece of paper on the ground.

What is the piece of paper you ask…

A receipt dated three days prior from the airline issued to the guest for the price of checking one carry-on piece of luggage…

37 thoughts on “The Tale of the House Guest”

  1. There’s a certain type of person who feels driven to prove to all and sundry that they are special – better than everyone else even – and they’ll talk utter BS to demonstrate it. It sounds like this guest was one of those. I wonder if this type of behaviour was noticeable in the previous acquaintanceship.

    A close of friend mine was in a relationship with a narcissist (although this didn’t become clear till later). In introducing them both to Himself, I was very clear that Himself was a military history specialist who’d lived in a certain part of the UK. This guy then attempted to show off to Himself on those very subjects – subjects it was clear he knew virtually nothing about. He just couldn’t help himself. Some people are like that – quite often they are male.

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      1. Just crazy! Of all the things one could lie about, why????? Not that you should ever lie to try to impress someone, but … lying about your carry on luggage??
        Makes you wonder if this person is a pathological liar. One that lies so much about everything that they honestly don’t even realize when they are lying. I worked with with one of them, and you would catch her in lies all the time, because she couldn’t keep things straight. It was frustrating, but also sad.

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  8. I think some people just like to exaggerate to get attention. It’s hard to understand that kind of insecurity but it exists for some people.

    My mom was like that. She was a wonderful story teller at bedtime when my siblings and I were little, but as I grew older I discovered she would often take a real situation and “embellish” it. I saw through it because most of the time those situations or stories she told were about me. I didn’t want to embarrass her in public by saying “That never happened.” So I kept quiet when she told her stories. I’m convinced it was because she had a fertile imagination and was bored being a stay at home mom. She had nothing about herself to talk about And so she’d make me the protagonist of her embellished fables. Example: I caught a bad cold before my older brother’s Bar Mitzvah. The doctor gave me antibiotics because I had a fever and I was told I had to stay in bed. I cried because I had a pretty new party dress and fancy new pumps to wear and was excited to attend. My fever became a family story for decades.

    Anyhow, my mother told her version of the story to everyone who asked where I was on the day and evening of the big event. She said that I had made myself sick because I wasn’t allowed to wear heels. I was so vain that I gave myself a high fever. It was then I realized that she cared more about how things looked to other people than what was the actual truth.

    Now, the reality was that when we were apparel shopping I did ask her if I could wear high heels, but I was ten years old. And in 1959 they didn’t make little girls kitten heels small enough for me to actually wear. But I didn’t cry or get upset about it. We searched, couldn’t find them anywhere, and that was that. So instead, I got some velvet pumps with rhinestones on the toe area. They were gorgeous. But she over exaggerated her version of the story. ( I am still amazed that people actually believed her). In fact, She had told so many stories about me over the years that folks just expected me to do crazy things all the time. . It wasn’t until we were sitting shiva after her funeral and relatives began telling stories about my mom that they brought up so many of her exaggerated tales about me. And how I drove her crazy with my antics. . I finally spoke out and said, “ None of that ever really happened. She created it in her head to make it sound more exciting.” And everyone just sat there looking shocked. I felt a little guilty outing my mom, but I finally stopped the stories from being circulated . It was time to put them to rest.

    BTW, Once, I privately asked my mother why she always read my diary and told exaggerated stories about me. She said that my life was much more exciting than anyone else’s in the family and since everyone loved hearing about my adventures she liked to keep them entertained.” It was obvious to me she liked the attention. I think she lived vicariously through me. It’s Sad really that people do stuff like that. But I suppose it’s the only way they think they can get attention. And I remember feeling sorry for my mom. I think she felt uncomfortable socially unless she could tell a funny story about me. So at ten I figured if it was so important to my mother to tell her stories, then I’d let her have her moment in front of a crowd. Pretty perceptive for a kid I guess, or perhaps it was my way of dealing with the situation. Who knows.

    So For this house guest, obviously, he felt important making up a story. For my mother I think she felt I was her ticket to approval or something. It’s all rather bizarre if you ask me.

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    1. I feel for anyone who needs to add “details “ about little things because they don’t think they are enough. I know there’s all sorts of embellishment of “the fish was thisssssss big” variety, because a lot of time we sort of forget the origin, and I’m ok with most of those lapses, because everyone is in on the added color…

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      1. Yeah, but after while the “embellishments” get annoying. Everyone probably does it to some extent and that’s pretty normal. And people in a room setting who see the same thing, will usually view their experience slightly differently. Or often they have their own take on what happened. But over the years it’s interesting how some stories have a life of their own. I know for myself I’ve always been a free thinker but I’m also a rule follower too. (Unless it’s unjust, then I’d protest, but I never broke the rules). However, the irony is, in my own family my parents saw me as their Wild child and I was probably the least wild of their three children. The difference was I was very verbal with my thoughts and ideas. So they anticipated or assumed that I MIGHT BE TROUBLE. Lol whereas my siblings were actually a lot more daring than I in many ways. But the fake stories my mother told were often funny and believable. I wish I had been as brave as the girl she made me out to be.

        In any case,I’m still scratching my head about the luggage story from your guest. You’d think if he were going to make up a story it might be more exciting to say he met a famous celebrity on the plane . That’s way better than 3 pieces of luggage. Lol 😂

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      2. It just boggles my mind. We didn’t even notice how much luggage he had. I’m just one of those people who understands why there are rules and I would have just paid for the extra thing. The last thing I need to to give the airline personnel more grief

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  9. When I saw the title, I knew this was going to be a “head shaker,” and it is. At least it didn’t end with an extended stay. Once upon a time, there was a president who lied about the big things and even the little, non-important things (like your guest). My mother used to say that he had lied so much that he didn’t even know how to tell the truth. Why did your guest make a big deal about luggage and their own ability to manipulate others? I doubt your guest even knows.

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  12. Some people are not happy unless they manged to cheat the system, then of course they have to brag. My grandmother used to call those kinds of people “BS artist” and she had no problem calling them out. Years ago I was flying from Nashville to DC aboard US Air. I spent some time in a bar waiting for my flight, there was a couple in the bar have a good time. Turns out there were the last 2 to board the flight and they did not have seats together. Seat next to me was empty. The flight attendend as me if I would surrender my seat for a crappy middle seat so the “newly weds” could sit together – nope, not happening.

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    1. Yeah…the hosts knew that allowing the guest was the right thing to do in the situation….but it doesn’t mean they weren’t in shell shock for hours after his departure…

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